Stephanie’s life had been full of joy and happiness, up until one day.
Stephanie, 36, is a stay-at-home mom. The woman had been enjoying both her motherhood and her happy relationship with her husband, when suddenly dark times knocked on her door.
The woman shared her story, which made every single member of our editorial both feel for her and admire her powerful spirits. Stephanie wanted some opinions from our readers about if she’s done everything right about the tough situation she appeared to be in. And here’s her emotional and tricky story.
Stephanie opened her letter, saying, “My husband and I have been happily married for 9 years now, and we have 4 kids. We’ve been through so many things together, some periods of our life were absolutely turbulent, like the birth of our 1st child, when we both were so young and had a zero experience with parenthood. But our marriage stood the storm of time, troubles and challenges, and here we were, a happy couple with kids and our own big house and a good family income. Everything was so blessed, up until one day.”
Bad news hit the woman right in the heart.
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Stephanie wrote, “A few months ago, our youngest kid was diagnosed with cancer. Luckily, it’s not too late to be cured and there’s still a lot that can be done to save her life. But right at the moment I received the news, I was in such a pain, and I was so broken that I could hardly even listen to the optimistic things that the doctors were saying. I was like a zombie because of the news, literally a walking dead, who wakes up in the morning only to start doing the chores automatically, and all my thoughts were with my kid.”
“This was the peak of my anxiety, my maternal pain, and my life was literally dependent on each word that the doctors said. My husband, on the contrary, was optimistic from the very start. But he didn’t console me, and he wasn’t really there for me, which shocked me. To make it even worse, he seemed to have started living in his own world, and soon I found what kind of world this was. The world of infidelity and betrayal.”
“Yes, I caught him cheating on me. I read the texts on his phone and instantly confronted him. He confessed to having an affair, and he even gave me an entire breakdown of his side romance, which had lasted for a month already. I was devastated and asked him why.
Why he betrayed me in the toughest period in our life, why he literally ignored what was happening to our child and to me, and just went on with an affair. He told me a shocking thing, which he thought was an excuse.”
Stephanie’s cheating spouse didn’t have any remorse.
Stephanie wrote, “He explained that he was too stressed out lately. And he remembered the famous saying that, when in trouble, a parent should take care and save themselves first, and only then they must take care about their child. He said he was feeling frustrated and depressed, so he had this affair just as a means to get distracted from a dark spell in his family, and then, all refreshed after having new impressions, he planned to move on with dealing with family troubles.”
“To say that I was shocked by his response is to say nothing. His overall behavior was as cruel as it only could be. But, at the same time, this cruelty and indecency of his gave me some extra power for fighting. I suddenly realized that I’m stronger than I ever thought, and I decided to take my life in my own hands from then on.”
Stephanie decided to forgive her husband, but on one condition.
Stephanie said, “So, I didn’t really make scenes and scandals. I didn’t cry or shout or reproach him. I didn’t even blame him of anything. I just calmly approached him and said that I’m forgiving him for what he’s done to me. I won’t file for a divorce, and we’ll live and fight for our kid together. But there’s one condition I want him to fulfill before I forgive him.”
“He said he would do anything I wanted for the rest of his life. When he agreed, I told him that if he wants to receive my forgiveness and remain a part of the family, he must call each and every one of his family members (and he has a huge family) and to every friend of his and confess to his affair. He must tell them, in details, how and under which circumstances he betrayed me, and he must also tell them the excuse that he provided for me about such a cynic behavior in the darkest times of our family.”
“I told him that was my only condition. And he exploded. He said it was cruel. He said that he didn’t deserve it. I simply asked him to move out then and to think about everything. I said I would wait until he makes the decision. Am I wrong to have done so? What would you do?”
And here’s a confession of a man who cheated on his wife. He told his spouse about his affair in details, but the reaction of his wife was so unexpected for him that he can’t recover from a shock now.
Preview photo credit freepik / Freepik
